Chapter 12 – Qualitative Research Methods (pp. 296-320)
Overall teaching objective: To introduce undergraduate criminal justice research methods
students to various qualitative research methods and to demonstrate their applications.
Note to instructors: This chapter is presented in two sections. The first section provides an
overview of the research method. The second section uses a research report to demonstrate how
previous researchers applied this method to a project relevant to criminal justice practice. In
both sections the material is organized by the generic research process that was presented in
Chapter 2.
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We live in a quantitative world. We want the ‘hard numbers’, the facts, the statistics.
Indeed, nearly every controversy is debated using statistics.
Few people really question how those statistics are generated and even fewer question
whether they really tell us anything about the controversy we are debating.
But in the end, statistics only tell us so much.
In the field of criminal justice, many questions can be answered quantitatively. But there
are many questions that demand more in-depth and qualitative answers.
Some of the earliest criminological studies were qualitative. And though the research has
become more quantitative over time, there is something of a resurgence in qualitative
measures and methods.
Qualitative research is a tradition in scientific inquiry that does not rely principally on
numeric data and quantitative measures. Instead, it attempts to develop a deeper
understanding of human behavior.
It is more concerned about how and why humans behave as they do, and how and why
they interpret the world as they do.
Making Research Real 12.1 – Learning from my Students (p. 296)
 A researcher is conducting a content analysis of newspaper stories on individuals
who have accused the police of racial profiling.
 The researcher, a middle aged White man, is frustrated with the fact that nearly
all of the victims mention that when stopped they never get a citation.
 “How can this be a bad thing?” the researcher asks.
 The researcher’s assistant, a young African-American man asks, “How many
times have you been stopped?”
 The professor responds, “Three times I guess”.
 Would your attitude be different if you were stopped three times per week.
 The researcher learned that there is more than the objective reality of facts.
Qualitative Research Basics (p. 297)
 Qualitative research refers to a broad category of research methods that attempt to
produce a more detailed understanding of human behavior, including its meaning
and its motivation.
Types of Qualitative Methods (p. 298)
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Some of the more popular qualitative research methods include case study
research, ethnographic research, and grounded theory research.
o A case study is a detailed analysis of a single event, group, or person.
o An ethnography is an in-depth study of a culture.
o Grounded theory is a methodological approach that uses inductive
reasoning to develop a theory to explain observed behaviors or processes.
Making Research Real 12.2 – What is a Jack-Roller? (p. 298)
 This short story tells about Clifford Shaw’s early study on jack rollers – juveniles
who steal from drunks and homeless persons.
 In this research Shaw conducted a case study on a jack roller to determine what
they are, what they do and other pertinent facts about this then new form of
criminal behavior.
Making Research Real 12.3 – An Ethnography Does Not Have To Be ‘Ethnic’ (p. 299)
 Ethnographic research does not have to be ‘ethnic’
 In this research the researcher conducted an ethnographic study to identify the
nature of the subculture in a large urban prosecutor’s office.
Making Research Real 12.4 – What Bothers the Homicide Detectives? (p. 300)
 In this study a researcher (Dean Dabney) interviewed and extensively observed
homicide detectives to determine what caused them stress.
 Eventually he determined that homicide crime scenes, time pressures, paperwork
demands and long-term ownership of individual case files were the sources of
stress.
 This research, like most grounded theory applications, lead to the creation of a
theory of homicide investigator stress and drew implications for further research.
Benefits and Limitations of Qualitative Research (p. 300)
Table 12.1 - The uses of qualitative research methods. (p. 301)
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Providing a nuanced and in-depth picture of a particular phenomenon
Understanding how perceptions and meanings influence human behavior
Developing a theory for unexplained social phenomena.
Table 12.2 - The limitations of qualitative research methods. (p. 302)
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Findings cannot be generalized to a larger population
Research may not be feasible or may pose ethical challenges
Note to instructors: In this section the research method is discussed within the context of a
relevant research project. The material is organized by the generic research process that was
presented in Chapter 2. The story (i.e. the research project that provides the context) is presented
in a series of set out boxes called Developing the Method. These are repeated here to allow
instructors to use the research to teach the concepts, tools and techniques related to this research
method.
The Qualitative Research Process (p. 302)
 Let us look now at how qualitative research is conducted within the context of the
generic research process introduced in Chapter 2.
 As usual, I will highlight the stages of the qualitative research process with a
section called “Developing the Method”.
 Within these highlighted sections, you will read about how two researchers
conducted a qualitative study.
 We will begin with an introduction to this study.
Developing the Method 12.1 - A Case Study in Qualitative Research (A Study of Crime and
Place) (p. 302)
Very many years ago, I was an undergraduate student living in a dormitory. One afternoon, a
painting crew showed up at the dorm and repainted the hallways a light shade of green.
Actually, I am being nice. It was a hideous shade of pea soup green. One of the residents on my
floor also hated the color and filed a complaint with the dorm mother. Ma Bradshaw, as we
called her, did not like the color either, but explained that “the folks over at Physical Plant said
the color is known to be soothing and will reduce stress among the residents.” For whatever
reason, my neighbor bought this explanation and dropped his complaint.
Patricia L. Brantingham and Paul J. Brantingham, both professors at Simon Fraser University in
British Columbia, Canada, explored a similar issue. They wanted to know whether the physical
environment affected criminal behavior. Their article, “Nodes, Paths and Edges: Considerations
on the Complexity of Crime and the Physical Environment,” appeared in the Journal of
Environmental Psychology in 1993. Their study was based on case study and grounded theory
research and helped establish a research agenda known as environmental criminology.
The Brantinghams made two very important observations at the beginning of their research.
First, they noticed that most of the attention on criminal behavior was devoted to explaining
individual motivations to commit crime. There was less attention to contextual or environmental
factors that influenced crime. Second, they observed that crime prevention strategies that
focused on making changes to physical spaces had a very long tradition. Locks, alarms, lighting,
and night watchmen have all been used for centuries to decrease the likelihood of criminal
behavior. But no theory of the relationship between the physical environment and criminal
behavior had ever been established. Thus, they set out to answer questions about this
relationship.
Ask a Research Question (p. 303)
 Research questions that require the researcher to probe deeply into social
phenomena or to develop new theories for explaining human behavior are
best answered using a qualitative research method.
Developing the Method 12.2 - Asking a Research Question in Qualitative Research (p. 304)
From the outset of their article, the Brantinghams establish that criminal behavior is associated
with the physical environment. Even a cursory glance at a map of criminal incidents reveals that
crime is not equally distributed throughout a community. It tends to cluster in certain areas. Of
course, association, or correlation, is not cause. Just because criminal incidents are patterned
does not mean that the physical space in which they occur is necessarily a cause of criminal
behavior. So the researchers set out to understand how crime is related to physical space and to
investigate whether there is a causal relationship between the two.
Since the publication of this research in 1993, a considerable amount of research has been done
in the area of environmental crime. The work of Herman Goldstein, Marcus Felson, Kim
Rossmo and many others has substantiated the Brantinghams’ findings to the point that many
criminologists and criminal justice practitioners consider the link between crime and the
environment a given. But when this article was first published, the linkage was much more
controversial and the research groundbreaking.
In that the Brantinghams took a grounded theory approach, their research was inductive. That is,
they used observations to create an explanatory theory for the relationship between crime and the
environment. Their research would be an example of pure research, since the Brantinghams
were not looking to develop solutions to practical problems. Even so, their research was used by
others to develop crime prevention strategies.
Conduct a Literature Review (p. 304)
 During the literature review process, qualitative researchers should examine both
quantitative and qualitative studies.
 Existing quantitative research could be enhanced by a qualitative look at the
phenomenon; existing qualitative research could be enhanced by looking at the
phenomenon in a different context.
 Grounded theory is distinguishable from other forms of research because the
importance of the literature review is somewhat diminished.
Developing the Method 12.3 - Conducting a Literature Review in Qualitative Research (p.
305)
A substantial part of the Brantinghams’ study relied on the previous work of other researchers.
This is not typical of most grounded theory research, in which researchers are encouraged to
begin observations with an open mind and with little input from the literature. In this respect, the
Brantinghams’ research should not be considered pure grounded theory research. It also has
elements of a case study.
The Brantinghams (1993, p. 5) drew on three areas of research in their literature review:
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The complex causes or origins (“etiology”) of crime,
Individual crime patterns and how the physical environment influences these patterns,
Aggregate crime patterns and how the physical environment influences these patterns.
The Brantinghams observed that none of the previous research ‘connected the dots’ and
considered the relationship between where crime happened, how individuals came to commit
crimes, and why crime patterns emerged. Thus, they decided to proceed with their study of how
this relationship came together. They used the three areas of research that they reviewed to
construct an overall framework for exploring this relationship.
Refine the Research Question (p. 306)
 If the qualitative research is intended to produce exploratory or descriptive
information, traditional hypotheses that predict causal relationships between
variables are not required.
Developing the Method 12.4 - Refining the Research Question in Qualitative Research (p.
306)
Because the Brantinghams’ approach was more inductive, they did not formulate initial
hypotheses. Instead, they proposed that a relationship existed between individual crime patterns,
aggregate crime patterns, and the physical environment. Their objective was to create a theory
that explained this relationship, which subsequent researchers could test through hypothesisdriven research.
Define the Concepts and Create the Measures (p. 306)
 The process by which qualitative researchers define concepts is much the same as
it is for quantitative researchers, except that qualitative researchers attempt to
define concepts at a deeper and more subjective level.
 In terms of measurement, qualitative researchers do not rely on numbers, focusing
instead on subjective meanings and experiences.
Developing the Method 12.5 - Defining Concepts and Creating Measures in Qualitative
Research (p. 307)
Again, conceptualization is critical in qualitative research design, just as it is in quantitative
research design. But conceptual definitions may be a little more detailed. Below is a summary
of some of the major conceptual definitions used in the study by the Brantinghams (1994, p. 5).
Concepts
Definitions
Crime
Crime refers to a broad range of actual
behaviors, which may be the result of many
different incentives or causal processes.
Individual crime patterns
Individual crime patterns refer to individual
criminal acts and where they occur.
Aggregate crime patterns
Aggregate crime patterns refer to where crime
occurs, the volume of crime, and the types of
crime that occur at a location.
An interesting omission in this list of conceptual definitions is any mention of the term physical
space. Although not explicitly defined, physical space in this study refers to a particular area that
is distinguishable from other areas in terms of its structure and social interaction. What the
researchers imply is that they attempted to differentiate between actual parts of town wherein the
residents are socially connected, i.e. neighborhoods.
Design a Method (p. 308)
 Typical case studies focus on cases that are typical or usual; extreme case studies
focus on atypical or unusual cases.
 Ethnographic research is very similar to field research, which relies on
observations of people and places in their natural setting. A major difference is
that ethnographic researchers actually live and socialize within the culture they
are studying.
 In terms of the actual methods used, grounded theory research is not that different
from case study and ethnographic research. It involves archival analysis,
observations and qualitative interviews.
Developing the Method 12.6 - Designing a Method in Qualitative Research (p. 310)
The Brantinghams’ research has elements of both case study and grounded theory research.
They do not conduct observations or interviews. Instead, they draw their data from the published
literature to explore why and how people commit crime, where crime happens, and whether or
not physical spaces affect crime. They use this information to develop a theory of crime and the
physical environment.
This approach is consistent with the grounded theory of research in that it all but ignores what
we already know about a topic, such as that one might discover during a literature review, and
develops theory from the observations. This approach is a legitimate research method in
situations where researchers do not want to be overly influenced by the previous research on a
topic. In other words, they want to give the issue a fresh look.
Collect and Analyze the Data (p. 310)
 Qualitative data collection requires keen observational and interviewing skills, a
great deal of persistence, and refined notetaking and recording techniques.
 In most cases, qualitative researchers analyze written information rather than
numeric data. Two popular analytic techniques in this regard are coding, in which
the researcher identifies major themes, and memoing, in which the researcher
reflects on what the data mean.
Developing the Method 12.7 – Collecting and Analyzing Data in Qualitative Research )p.
312)
The key to grounded theory research is to use observations to create a theory of some social
phenomenon. In this case, the Brantinghams used existing crime data to construct a theory of
criminal behavior. Using crime data, they looked to see if certain areas were more or less
susceptible to certain types of crime. These data were organized onto crime maps that illustrated
community crime patterns. These visual representations enabled the researchers to analyze
where crime happens and what types of crimes happen where.
Though the researchers do not provide a great deal of insight into their particular analytical
strategies, it is clear that they are using a type of spatial analysis to understand how and where
crime takes place. Using maps, they indicate spatially an offender’s activity space, which is
defined by three major ‘nodes’, namely home, work and recreation. Offenders travel the space
between these nodes along what the Brantinghams call ‘paths.’ It is along these paths, the
Brantinghams argue, that crime is most likely to take place. Specifically, most crimes take place
at ‘edges’, or the boundaries of areas where offenders live, work and play.
Interpret the Results (p. 312)
 Qualitative researchers can make any number of valid interpretations of their data,
so long as the interpretation is reasonable and supported by the evidence. But
qualitative researchers should be careful not to overreach their findings.
Developing the Method 12.8 - Interpreting the Results in Qualitative Research (p. 313)
After evaluating the crime maps that they constructed in the course of their study, the
Brantinghams arrived at several conclusions. First, they alleged that an individual’s knowledge
of physical spaces influences their decision on where to commit crimes. Specifically, through
their in-depth knowledge of the physical space surrounding them, potential criminals know the
places that they are least likely to be observed. These are the places they are most likely to
commit crimes. Their knowledge of physical space is organized into ‘cognitive maps’, which
potential offenders use to calculate when and where to commit crimes.
The Brantinghams also reasoned that offenders ‘share’ these cognitive maps. In other words,
offenders seem to agree on the best places to commit crime. This collective but informal
knowledge results in consistent crime patterns. That is, crime tends to occur in particular areas
that can be predicted.
The interpretation of the data offered by the Brantinghams suggests that urban planners can use
zoning regulations to minimize crime. For example, if ingress and egress pathways associated
with schools, parks and youth activity centers are hidden from the casual observation of others,
incidents of graffiti are likely to increase along these pathways. If these pathways are opened up
to casual observation, the incidence of graffiti is likely to go down (Brantingham and
Brantingham, 1994).
Communicate the Findings (p. 313)
 One of the key advantages of qualitative research is its ability to describe and
interpret social phenomena at a level of detail that numeric measures cannot
achieve. As such, qualitative reports are often longer and more narrative than
their quantitative counterparts. They tend to ‘tell a story’ about the data.
Developing the Method 12.9 - Communicating the Results of Qualitative Research (p. 314)
In terms of communicating their major findings, the Brantinghams provide a figure that
illustrates the relationship between nodes, pathways and edges to describe where and how crime
patterns emerge. This helps the reader understand conceptually how these features of their
theory are interrelated. Beyond this, their article is written in a very approachable manner. It is
more conversational than technical in tone.
The Brantinghams do not explicitly state what they perceive to be the weakness of their research.
This should not be construed to mean that their research is without fault. For example, they tend
to report only the literature that supports their propositions. Admittedly, their review of the
literature is extensive and their use of it is superior, but it is reasonable to expect that at least
some studies refute the Brantinghams’ proposition that physical environment affects crime
patterns. It is also reasonable to suspect that certain types of crime (e.g., white collar crime) are
less affected by the physical environment. As such, the theory proposed by the Brantinghams
may have its limitations.
Finally, nothing in their theory even attempts to explain how a ‘motivated offender’ becomes
motivated in the first place. They are clear in their characterization of crime as an opportunistic
event. Leaving one’s wallet in a public bathroom creates an opportunity for crime. But each of
us is given dozens of opportunities to commit crime each day. Why do some people pick up the
wallet and keep it, whereas others turn it in to the lost-and-found desk? If a predisposition to
commit crime is so important to their theory, then it seems reasonable that they should offer
some explanation of what causes this predisposition.
Getting to the Point (Chapter Summary) (p. 315)
 Qualitative research refers to a broad category of research methods that attempt to
produce a more detailed understanding of human behavior, including its meaning
and its motivation.

Some of the more popular qualitative research methods include case study
research, ethnographic research, and grounded theory research. A case study is a
detailed analysis of a single event, group, or person. An ethnography is an indepth study of a culture. And grounded theory is a methodological approach that
uses inductive reasoning to develop a theory to explain observed behaviors or
processes.

Qualitative research methods are effective when a researcher wants to develop a
deeper or more nuanced understanding of a particular phenomenon. These
methods are effective at determining how perceptions and meanings influence
human behavior and for developing theories for previously unexplained social
phenomena.

Qualitative research methods are not effective when a researcher wants to
generalize findings of the research to a larger or similar population. Some
qualitative research may not be feasible because of ethical challenges.

Research questions that require the researcher to probe deeply into social
phenomena or to develop new theories for explaining human behavior are best
answered using a qualitative research method.

During the literature review process, qualitative researchers should examine both
quantitative and qualitative studies. Existing quantitative research could be
enhanced by a qualitative look at the phenomenon; existing qualitative research
could be enhanced by looking at the phenomenon in a different context. Grounded
theory is distinguishable from other forms of research because the importance of
the literature review is somewhat diminished.

If the qualitative research is intended to produce exploratory or descriptive
information, traditional hypotheses that predict causal relationships between
variables are not required.

The process by which qualitative researchers define concepts is much the same as
it is for quantitative researchers, except that qualitative researchers attempt to
define concepts at a deeper and more subjective level. In terms of measurement,
qualitative researchers do not rely on numbers, focusing instead on subjective
meanings and experiences.

Typical case studies focus on cases that are typical or usual; extreme case studies
focus on atypical or unusual cases.

Ethnographic research is very similar to field research, which relies on
observations of people and places in their natural setting. A major difference is
that ethnographic researchers actually live and socialize within the culture they
are studying.

In terms of the actual methods used, grounded theory research is not that different
from case study and ethnographic research. It involves archival analysis,
observations and qualitative interviews.

Qualitative data collection requires keen observational and interviewing skills, a
great deal of persistence, and refined notetaking and recording techniques.

In most cases, qualitative researchers analyze written information rather than
numeric data. Two popular analytic techniques in this regard are coding, in which
the researcher identifies major themes, and memoing, in which the researcher
reflects on what the data mean.

Qualitative researchers can make any number of valid interpretations of their data,
so long as the interpretation is reasonable and supported by the evidence. But
qualitative researchers should be careful not to overreach their findings.

One of the key advantages of qualitative research is its ability to describe and
interpret social phenomena at a level of detail that numeric measures cannot
achieve. As such, qualitative reports are often longer and more narrative than
their quantitative counterparts. They tend to ‘tell a story’ about the data.